Golf's version of March Madness

Now that Phil Mickelson is feeling better and before you fill out your NCAA tournament bracket, let’s take a quick tour around The Front Nine:

1. HE CAN DUNK…AND PUTT, TOO

Gerald Henderson chose basketball but he could have chosen golf.

Henderson, a first-team All-ACC player at Duke this season, was a scratch player when he was 14 before devoting most of his time and attention to basketball.

“(Golf) was my sport. Basketball was just something I did in the winter,” said Henderson, who grew up in the Philadelphia area.

“We lived on a golf course and I had some good times.”

In 10th grade, Henderson said he decided to pursue basketball rather than golf because it’s where his heart was. He played high school golf and his school’s home course was Merion Golf Club, considered one of the world’s finest layouts.

“We played the West Course, not the (more famous) East Course, though I got over there a few times,” Henderson said.

Henderson hasn’t played golf in more than a year, in part because of off-season writs surgery. His father, former NBA player Gerald Henderson, brought his son’s golf clubs to him prior to Duke’s regular-season finale against North Carolina.

When the Blue Devils’ basketball season is over, Henderson intends to get back on the golf course.

In the meantime, he keeps an eye on the professional game.

“I watch what Tiger’s doing,” Henderson said.

2. THE WOLF TRACK

The new golf course at N.C. State – Lonnie Poole Golf Course – is expected to open later this spring, adding another top-notch college course to the Triangle area.

Designed by Arnold Palmer who used N.C. State grads Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson from his staff extensively in the process, the course will be open to the public.

It’s located new N.C. State’s centennial campus and the alumni center.

The course was sodded and is being allowed to grow in before being opened for play.

One of the features is the 18th hole, which has been named for former Wolfpack quarterback Roman Gabriel. It’s No. 18 for No. 18, something friends did to honor Gabriel.

3. PERFECT TIMING

Phil Mickelson has returned at just the right time.

It was barely a month ago that some of us were questioning whether Lefty would get his game back to its former level. Consider the question answered.

With two wins already, Mickelson is nipping at Tiger’s spot atop the world rankings and has us imagining a Phil-Tiger showdown at the Masters.

Nobody makes golf more fun to watch the Mickelson. Tiger makes it more awe inspiring. Phil makes it spectacular and unpredictable.

Watching Mickelson at Doral was more fun than watching the NCAA tournament bracket be unveiled.

4. DID HE SAY THAT?

Speaking of Mickleson, NBC’s Johnny Miller said Sunday that when Mickelson is hitting it long and straight, he’s the best player in the world.

Not sure I can agree with that one.

5. A ROYAL BLESSING

When asked by reporters at Doral if 19-year old Rory McIlroy has the goods to be No. 1 in the world someday, the world’s No. 1 player said yes, though he hopes it takes him a while.

“The guy’s a talent,” Woods said. “We can all see it, the way he hits the golf ball, the way he putts, the way he can chip, get up and down.

“He has the composure. He has all the components to be the best in the world, there’s no doubt.”

6. KID AT PLAY

The presence of 18-year old Danny Lee to the Quail Hollow Championship field is an exciting addition, giving the Charlotte tournament one of the three teenaged stars this spring.

Lee, who has enormous potential and the fearlessness of a youngster, brings an aggressive attitude to the golf course. Like most young players, he can bomb it off the tee but he has great touch and a putting stroke that’s magic.

Winning the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst last summer was one thing. Winning the Johnnie Walker Classic on the European Tour this year was something else – convincing evidence he’s the real deal.

7. THE BIG IMG-SIE

It’s a good thing that Michelle Wie cut ties with the William Morris Agency last week and will sign with IMG.

That means she’s about golf more than about being a star.

She can do both but IMG’s track record with Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Arnold Palmer and others tells you it knows what it’s doing.

Wie and her family need good, strong guidance – and they need to listen to it. If they do, she may come close to being all we thought she would be.

8. THE LIST

Players with the most PGA Tour victories in events that Tiger Woods has played:

Tiger Woods 65

Phil Mickelson 12

Vijay Singh 12

Ernie Els 8

9. THE LAST WORD

“Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off…I’ll probably take that to my grave with me.” – Henrik Stenson on his decision to strip down to his underwear to hit a shot from a muddy lie Thursday at Doral.

Teenager Lee To Play At Quail Hollow

Danny Lee, the 18-year old sensation who won the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst and the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic earlier this year, has accepted an exemption into the Quail Hollow Championship, tournament director Kym Hougham said Thursday.
Lee is considered one of the emerging young stars in golf, a reputation that was enhanced by his European Tour victory in Thailand.
After playing in the Masters, where he will draw significant attention along with 17-year old Ryo Ishakawa and 19-year old Rory McIlroy, Lee is expected to turn pro, making his visit to Quail Hollow one of his first events as a professional.
-- Ron Green Jr.

A new No. 1? Not really

Let’s take a run around the mid-week Back Nine:

1. A NEW NO. 1?

To borrow a line I heard someone say on The Golf Channel this week, how can a guy who’s a lousy putter and never won a major championship be the No. 1-ranked player in the world?
Computer math, mostly.

If second-ranked Sergio Garcia wins the WGC-CA Championship this week at Doral and His Greatness, Mr. Woods, finishes a Tim Herron-like 27th or worse, Sergio assumes Tiger’s throne.
That, of course, involves two significant assumptions, the larger guess being that Tiger might finish 27th or worse. Don’t count on it.

Even if Garcia moves to No. 1 on based on the numbers, we all know who No. 1 really is.
That’s not meant as a knock on Garcia, whom I’ve been a believer in for years. I still think he’ll win multiple majors and his play last year was evidence of his continuing development.
But Tiger is the king of this jungle.

2. THE WGC EFFECT

The best thing about the World Golf Championship events is easy – Tiger Woods usually wins them.

Tiger has won 12 of them.

But he’s only played in 19 of them.

Aside from the obvious reason that he’s just better than everyone else, he also wins because he loves playing against the best competition and he likes playing top-notch courses, such as Doral and Firestone.

The suits who created the WGC did so to create more play among the best golfers in the world. They’ve done that but they’ve also had the extraordinary good fortune of having Tiger there to hoist the trophies.

It makes a difference.

3. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Tiger Woods has always made it a habit of waiting until the last minute to officially commit to tournaments he plays in, leaving tournament directors and fans to wait and wonder if he’ll show up in their neighborhood.

He did it again last week, waiting until late Friday afternoon before announcing he will play at Doral this week.

Why does he do it that way?

He just does. That’s essentially what he said when asked about it Wednesday.

At least he’s consistent.

Other than majors, Tiger almost never announces in advance where he’ll play next. Just ask Quail Hollow Championship executive director Kym Hougham, who’s been through before and likely will go through it again later next month.

It would help tournaments sell tickets if Tiger made his announcement earlier but if you’re going to see Tiger, you’re going whether you find out three weeks before or three days before that he’s coming.

4. THE PICK

The top 50 players in the world are in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral this week.
So who’s the pick?

Ernie Els.

I know, almost no one trusts Ernie to win any more but he’s played fairly well recently. He now calls south Florida home and he needs a big moment. Maybe this is it.

5. SWING THOUGHTS

-- Now that springtime is teasing us, I can hear the sound of greens being aerated. That means two weeks or more of putting on bumpy, sandy greens, hoping your ball hits the right little holes before finding the big hole.

-- Anthony Kim has been awfully quiet this year. He took some time off recently, saying he needed to let some little injuries get better. It will be interesting to see how he plays from here through the Masters.

-- If you’re counting, the Masters starts 28 days from Thursday.

6. BACK TO THE FUTURE

On Thursday, Pine Lakes Country Club – the one that started it all at Myrtle Beach – will reopen after a 20-month, $10-million renovation intended to bring the golf course and its elegant clubhouse back to their former glories.

Pine Lakes opened in 1927, the first golf resort along the Grand Strand, and it occupied a special place in the golf-rich area for years. It also happens to be where Sports Illustrated magazine was created.

Course architect Craig Schreiner was brought in to supervise the course renovation. He kept the essence of the original front nine while creating a new second nine.

Also Thursday, the inaugural class will be inducted into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame, which will be housed on site at Pine Lakes.

The inductees include Cecil Brandon, Clay Brittain Jr., Carolyn Cudone, Jimmy D’Angelo, Gen. James Hackler and Robert White.

If you’ve ever played in the Myrtle Beach area, you owe them a tip of the cap.

7. SLOW STARTERS

Taking a look at the PGA Tour money list to this point (I know they want me to use FedEx Cup points instead but I’m old school), there are a handful of names lower than they should be.
Masters champion Trevor Immelman is 124th on the list, British Open and PGA Champion Padraig Harrington is 129th, Justin Rose is 163rd and Brandt Snedeker is way down at 189th.
If things don’t change soon, some of these guys are going to have some ‘splaining to do.

8. LOVE IT

Davis Love III, chasing a spot in this year’s Masters, made it into this week’s WGC-CA Championship at the last minute when he moved to 50th in the World Golf Rankings after his tie for 13th last week at the Honda Classic.

Had Love been ranked 51st, he would not have qualified for the WGC event.

How close did he come?

Brett Quigley missed a six-foot putt on the 18th hole on Sunday, dropping down the scoreboard, allowing Love to pick up just enough points to jump to 50th.

9. THE LAST WORD

“I think that being No. 1 in the world is great, but I would rather win a major. It’s just the way I feel. If I had to choose between the two, I would rather take both.” – Sergio Garcia to reporters at Doral on Tuesday.

The New Look And A New Face

A quick run through what we call 'The Front Nine' each Monday morning:

1. The New Look

Kym Hougham, tournament director for the Wach … I mean Quail Hollow Championship, will spend a few days at Doral this week where the PGA Tour’s best and brightest are gathered for the WGC-CA Championship.

Hougham is there to answer questions players may have about Charlotte’s PGA Tour stop, which is only seven weeks away.

He got a special order of shirts with the new tournament logo so the re-branding process can get an immediate visual boost while Hougham works the practice range talking to players.

His message is simple – the name has changed but the tournament hasn’t.

Hougham said he’s already heard from at least a dozen players, all of whom said they like the new name.

Tournament organizers made it clear last week that they intend for the tournament to keep the Quail Hollow Championship name in the future.

It’s possible the name could include a “Presented By…” addendum in the future but that remains to be seen. What they don’t want to happen for the name to keep changing, something that diminishes a tournament’s image.

Players and fans shouldn’t notice anything different other than the new navy and copper logo. What will disappear will be corporate events related to the tournament, such as private dinner parties with clients and players and a big block party held at Phillips Place.

2. On Second Thought

Nice work by GolfDigest.com’s Ron Sirak who talked with Barney Frank, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, who eased off his initially stinging criticism of financial institutions sponsoring golf tournaments.

“No one is saying they shouldn’t sponsor golf tournaments and honor existing contracts,” Frank told Golf World. “It’s the spending on luxury hotels and limousines they should not be doing.”
Fair enough.

Frank said he doesn’t see the overall benefit in such marketing but he won’t oppose it quite as vociferously as he did Northern Trust’s involvement in the Los Angeles tournament.

3. The Comeback, Stroke-Play Version

Tiger Woods’ performance this week at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral will be a better indicator of where he is in his comeback than the Match Play Championship two weeks ago.
This is four rounds of stroke-play and, no, making the cut shouldn’t be an issue.

Woods has won three times in six professional starts at Doral and never been out of the top 10.
He’s had two weeks to work on the rusty spots that showed themselves in Tucson, putting another coat of polish on his game. If he’s a factor on the weekend, we’ll know he’s almost there.

4. The List

Putting is a huge part of the challenge at Quail Hollow. Need proof?

Here are the most three-putted holes on the 2008 PGA Tour (the number of three-putts during the tournament is in parentheses).

1. Oakland Hills (PGA), No. 13 (67)

2. Quail Hollow Club, No. 12 (44). That's Anthony Kim lining up a putt at No. 12 at right.

3. Quail Hollow Club, No. 1 (43)


5. All For The Low, Low Price Of…

While there’s no doubt the recession is hitting everywhere, even around the Masters where corporate entertaining will be down along with the cost of previously over-priced rental houses, tickets still aren’t going cheap.

At least not according to the man who called me recently wondering if I could help him sell four Masters badges he owns.

Turns out the man is asking $3,000 apiece for the badges. Good luck.

6. The New Kids On The Block


If you want to get a look at 19-year-old star Rory McIlroy (above) and don’t have tickets to the Masters, he’ll be playing in the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head the next week.

It’s possible that 18-year old Danny Lee will make his professional debut there, as well.

7. Chip Shots

Mini-tour season is coming alive in the area. The egolf Tarheel Tour kicks off its 2009 season with the $220,000 FairwayStyles.com Open in Bluffton, S.C., while the Hooters Tour makes a visit to the area with the I-40 Hooters Tour Open at Rock Barn in Conover…

The Country Club of North Carolina will host the 2010 U.S. Girls Junior Championship. The club previously hosted the 1980 U.S. Amateur championship won by Hal Sutton.

8. Building On A Trend

Did Y.E. Yang’s victory in the Honda Classic on Sunday signal the onset of a heightened presence of Koreans on the men’s professional scene similar to what has happened on the LPGA Tour?

Probably not but it reinforced the fact that, while we may not know much about him, Yang is a world-class player. The 37-year old beat Tiger Woods to win a tournament in China in 2006 and his victory on the PGA Tour immediately raised his profile here while vaulting him to 33rd in the world rankings.

It was also further evidence of the strong golf training in Korea, which has produced many of the top women’s players. On the same day Yang was winning, Ji-Yai Shin was pulling in another LPGA trophy.

Asked by reporters why Korean men, whose role model has been K.J. Choi, haven’t been as successful as females, Yang pointed to the mandatory two years of military service for men.

9. The Last Word

“I feel very relieved. All the pressure is off my shoulders…What I did when I clapped all of the fans after I won, I did that out of pure emotions. I felt like they were supporting me and I just wanted to thank them.” – Y.E. Yang on his spontaneous high-fiving with fans after his win at the Honda Classic.

Of Tiger Tracks And Other Things

Now that the snow has melted and there are rumors of a 70-degree weekend around here, it’s time to follow Monday’s Front Nine with the Back Nine.

1. Tiger Tracks

If you’ve wondered how involved Tiger Woods is with his golf course design at High Carolina, here’s an example:

Recently, Woods phoned Jim Anthony, the man who hired him, and asked if he had some time to look around the property. Woods jetted in a couple of days later and did a walk-around, focusing on a redesign planned for the ninth hole.

"He's been on the property numerous times," Anthony said of Woods. "He's been on the land as much as any architect we've worked with at this point in time."

The routing has undergone 28 versions in an effort to maximize the spectacular setting, Anthony said.

One of the High Carolina features (it’s not scheduled to open until 2011 with a reported $150,000 initiation fee) is that all 18 holes will have some southern exposure, allowing for more golf during colder months.

2. The Florida Swing

It’s not just about getting ready for the Masters anymore.

OK, it’s still a lot about that but the four-week swing from down where Jack lives up to Arnie’s tournament at Bay Hill has become more interesting in recent years.

The events are played on difficult courses with generally good fields, The best field comes next week at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral where all the big-timers, including Tiger, are expected to tee it up.

Among the things to watch:

-- How Tiger does at Doral and, presumably, Bay Hill;

-- If Geoff Ogilvy can successfully defend his title at Doral;

-- Whether Davis Love III can play his way into the Masters over the next two weeks;

-- And, how much discussion there is about the Masters.

3. How’d The U.S. Win The Ryder Cup?

Take a look at the latest World Golf Rankings and you’ll notice something missing – Americans.
Of the top 40 players, only 10 are American born.

4. At Least He Made One Bogey

How well did Geoff Ogilvy play in winning the Accenture Match Play Championship last weekend?

He played his last 56 holes 25-under par. That included 22 birdies, two eagles and a lone, lonesome bogey.

5. The Changing Landscape

While in Pinehurst recently for the Carolinas Golf Association’s centennial dinner, I talked with USGA executive director David Fay about a variety of subjects.

At the time, California government officials were still considering a ‘golf tax’ to help with its budget problems, an idea that has since gone away.

Still, Fay lamented the game’s image as a rich-person’s game.

“It does trouble me that in some quarters golf is almost being picked on,” Fay said.

“I’d like to believe George Strait, ‘they have an image that time is bound to see through’ as far as golf. It isn’t what it was.

“Seventy percent of golf rounds are played on public facilities. That’s the figure the NGF and PGA of America use. The profile of American golf has changed dramatically.

“Will it change further? It probably will.

“There will still be a place for the traditional country club. I think it’s going to be more Darwinian and I don’t mean Bernard. Those clubs are going to have to be more amenable with their pricing and how they position themselves.”

6. This Week’s Pick

It’s the Honda Classic at PGA National, a tough lay-out defined by the three-hole ‘Bear Trap’ on the back nine.

The winner: Camilo Villegas.

7. Swing Thoughts

-- Will any of us around here remember how to swing a club while wearing just one layer of clothing?

-- Playing desert golf courses would be fun – for a round or two.

-- It’s about time for Charlotte resident Johnson Wagner to have another big week.

8. The New Look
The logo for the newly renamed Quail Hollow Championship -- formerly the Wachovia Championship -- will be unveiled on Thursday at, appropriately enough, Quail Hollow.
Word is it's strikingly different from the old logo, which means the logo-conscious will be required to update their wardrobes and/or headwear.

9. The Last Word

“Depends on how many beers.” – Brenda Calcavecchia when asked by a reporter what kind of caddie her husband, Mark, is when she plays.

Quail Hollow cutbacks: Caddies still get valet

Now that we’re all snowed out of golf around here for a while, here’s a Monday morning look at what’s happening in the game. We’ll call it the Front Nine.

1. The West Coast Verdict

So what did we learn during the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing?

We learned that Geoff Ogilvy (above) will be on the short list of pre-tournament favorites at the Masters, Phil Mickelson is as perplexing as ever and Kenny Perry isn’t about to retire.

Despite winning a U.S. Open and two previous World Golf Championship events, Ogilvy has managed to operate just outside the glare of the spotlight. No more.

Ogilvy doesn’t scare and has a game that, while not spectacular-looking, seemingly has no weaknesses. When the subject turns to the game’s best players, he’s one of the subjects.

Mickelson’s west coast performance was schizophrenic, even in his victory in Los Angeles, a pattern that will likely continue.

Otherwise, the west coast swing felt like it usually does – nice to look at from afar while feeling it’s a prelude to bigger moments soon to come.

2. It’s Like Daytona, Only Different

If there’s a problem with the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship it’s that the best day is often the first day.

That’s when there are 32 matches and all the stars are there. The very nature of the event means culling the field, which means cutting out stars as it moves along.

NASCAR starts its season with its biggest race and, unless the Match Play gets Tiger against Phil or Sergio against Padraig Harrington in the finals, it’s difficult to maintain the excitement of the first day throughout the week.

3. Next Time, He’ll Stay Longer

Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA Tour lasted two days – 32 holes to be precise – and felt like a disappointment because he was expected to show up like Superman, win the tournament, save the tour, solve the financial crisis, bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.

Or something like that.

Woods didn’t win but he left feeling encouraged about his game, understanding he has to knock a little competitive rust off. He’ll play at Doral in two weeks then at Bay Hill but his eyes are focused on the Masters.

Nice to have him back.

4. She’s Still The Man

In case you missed it – which can happen the way the LPGA’s international schedule is – Lorena Ochoa won her first event of the year in Thailand, running down back-pedaling Paula Creamer.
So, nothing has really changed – except Ochoa is engaged to be married. And we all know what marriage did to Tiger’s game.

5. Caddies Will Still Get Valet Parking

The name change of Charlotte’s PGA Tour event – to the Quail Hollow Championship from the Wachovia Championship – means a rush for organizers to change logos and signs before the event arrives in late April but it doesn’t mean the experience will change.

The top players are still going to come (Tiger won’t say yes or no until much closer to tournament time), the course will be superb and the special touches won’t suffer.

Will things be scaled back in places? Absolutely.

Private dinners for big clients with tour players as guest speakers will probably go away as will other corporate-related entertainment events.

But the golf tournament will be just fine.

6. The Miracle Worker

If you get the chance, check out the first episode of ‘The Haney Project, Charles Barkley’ tonight on The Golf Channel if for nothing else than to hear Haney describe a typical practice day for Tiger.

It’ll make you feel bad about feeling good that you hit two bags of balls on the range last week.

7. The Shark’s Suggestion

Greg Norman was quoted recently saying the PGA Tour should roll back prize money by up to 20 percent in light of the on-going financial crisis.

Of course, it didn’t take long for someone to wonder if Norman planned to cut the price of his clothes and wine by 20 percent.

There’s merit to what Norman said, though. Given the PGA Tour’s commitment to charity, it would be a nice move to take 20 percent of the purse money and give it to charity.

It would do two things – help the perception of the tour and help the charities.

8. The No-Bailout Classic

The tour comes east now, starting the Florida swing at the Honda Classic where the talk may center on how to putt Bermuda greens rather than the use of bailout money.

Two players worth keeping an eye on this week – Tadd Fujikawa and heart transplant recipient Erik Compton.

9. The Last Word

“To the airport.” – Tiger Woods, when asked where he was going after losing to Tim Clark.

Suddenly, It's The Quail Hollow Championship

So now it’s the Quail Hollow Championship.
Say it a few times.
Quail Hollow Championship.
Quail Hollow Championship.
It sounds pretty good if you ask me.
The only surprise about the announcement that the Wachovia Championship name has gone away, effective immediately, is that it happened so close to the PGA Tour’s visit to Quail Hollow April 27-May 3.
But according to club president Johnny Harris and Kym Hougham, the event’s executive director, approximately 85 percent of all tournament-related materials will be re-branded before the tour players arrive in Charlotte.
It’s too late to print new tickets but pretty much everything else will bear the new name and logo. Just think, if you’re into logoed caps and shirts, you can buy new stuff this spring without feeling guilty. The new logo may debut next week.
And somewhere there will be some Wachovia Championship stuff at a really good price.
Considering all that’s happening with bank-related sponsorships these days, it isn’t shocking to see Wells Fargo officials pull the Wachovia name off the event.
Chrysler went low-profile at the Bob Hope tournament. Morgan Stanley is doing the same at the Memorial and Northern Trust officials are getting roasted for spending money on their event in Los Angeles last week, though they never requested money from the federal government and their tournament expenses came from their annual operating fund.
The name change here doesn’t mean the tournament is in danger of going away. It will remain here through 2014, when organizers have said it will wave goodbye for good.
It won’t have the Wells Fargo name on it but it will have the bank’s money paying for it. Or it will until another potential sponsor can be found that would take over what Wells Fargo inherited in the Wachovia acquisition.
Wells Fargo officials intend to evaluate the company’s involvement after this year’s event.
The way the contract works, the title sponsor pays a fee for the title, plus another fee for television advertising. Combined, that has cost more than $6.5 million annually for Wachovia as it will for Wells Fargo.
Then there’s the additional cost of entertaining clients and other tournament-related expenditures. That’s where Wells Fargo will cut back this year and, perhaps, beyond.
It’s a tricky situation for sponsors right now, particularly for struggling companies. They’re obligated to spend the money on their respective tournaments but they’re being criticized for honoring their commitment.
If you’re spending the money, I’d think you’d want to make the most of it. Don’t be frivolous but don’t hide what you’re doing. That’s part of what led to the trouble the industry is in today.
Big companies, banks included, can’t quit marketing. Some would argue marketing is more important now than ever.
In the case of Wachovia/Wells Fargo, the situation is different than others because a brand is essentially going away. It’s one thing to market a company, it’s something else to market one that soon won’t exist, at least not as we’ve come to know it.
Golf is a hot-button item, especially these days. California was considering adding an 8-10 percent sales tax on all things golf-related until recently. They weren’t going to tax football or swimming or basketball, just golf. Ask Governor Ah-nuld to explain it because I can’t.
The intent at Quail Hollow will continue to be to produce a PGA Tour that is a model for others. There’s no reason to think that will change.
The top players will still play here. The experience will still be exceptional for the spectators whether they’re in private tents or roaming the property. The whole thing will look and feel like something special, which it is.
The people running the Quail Hollow Championship know what they’re doing and they’re not going anywhere. Neither is the tournament. Just its old name.

It's the beauty of match play golf

That didn’t take long.

Tiger Woods played exactly 34 holes over two days and he’s already been dispatched from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, throwing a pile of NBC television executives into a sobbing heap with their sure-fire ratings bonanza blown up before someone named Ross Fisher could be eliminated.

Far too much will be read into the fact that the great comeback ended so suddenly but, the bottom is, that’s the nature of match play golf.

It doesn’t mean there’s a reason to worry about Tiger. He’s gotten knocked out of this tournament far more often than he’s won it. Just ask Nick O’Hern or Peter O’Malley or Darren Clarke.

The beauty of match play is if one guy plays well and the other doesn’t, that’s it. There’s no playing to make the cut and seeing what you can do on the weekend.

And for the all the surprise about Tiger losing 4 and 2 to Tim Clark, it’s not a huge surprise.

Clark is among the better players in the world, even if he can walk into any McDonald’s in the world and not be recognized. The former N.C. State golfer had played Tiger in this event before, knew what he was up against and knew how to handle it.

“You either let it get the best of you or you thrive on it,” Clark told reporters after his victory.

He didn’t thrive on it.

He glowed like a Las Vegas night.

It helped that Clark played well and Tiger didn’t. Clark won two par-5s in the decisive portion of the match, something you never expect to happen against Tiger. But it did and now Clark is suddenly more famous.

“That’s big but at the end of the day, it’s still just the second round,” Clark said.

True but for a guy who keeps being forced to answer questions about why he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour, this win gives people something else to talk about.

As for Tiger, he’ll be fine.

Before the event, he said he wanted to test himself in competition again and he got his answer. He’s not as sharp as he wants to be.

He’ll look at this week for a while but his attention is focused on April. When he rolls into Augusta National, that’s when he wants to be ready.

I’m guessing he will be.

64 Players, One Storyline

Tiger Woods, left, and caddy Steve Williams walk to the practice range at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

If you enjoy match-play golf – and I’m a big fan of it – the first round of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship makes Wednesday one of the most fun days on the PGA Tour schedule.

You get 32 matches guaranteed to produce a handful of shockers and enough storylines to make you dizzy.

This year, there is only one storyline – Tiger Woods’ return.

You may have heard about it.

I’m not ready to go as far as some have and say it’s comparable to Ben Hogan’s return from a near fatal auto accident. The guy had knee surgery, took eight months off and now he’s back, almost sure to be as good or better than ever.

If the plot revolves around Tiger, the subplot spins around Brendan Jones, the 64th-seeded Aussie whose name is penciled in opposite Woods’ in the first-round bracket.

If you haven’t caught up with Jones’ sudden celebrity, he’s 35 with one Nationwide Tour victory and eight wins on the Japan Tour. He was home in Australia, enjoying some down time, when he got word he was in the field at Tucson and, surprise, drew Tiger.

Jones knows what he’s up against.

In a first-person piece on pgatour.com, Jones said he “doesn’t want to do what Stephen Ames did and upset (Woods),” referencing the beatdown Ames took from Tiger after a snarky comment prior to their match.

In fact, Jones sounds like a guy just thrilled to be in Woods’ presence.

“I want to meet him and try to be nice and, at the end of the day, win, lose or draw, if I could have a drink or go out to lunch, it would be nice,” Jones wrote.

Maybe he’s trying to intimidate Tiger with niceness.

Jones does have one advantage – he’s from Down Under. Tiger has been eliminated by Aussies three times in this event, twice by the mysteriously successful Nick O’Hern and once by Peter O’Malley.

Still, the facts say Tiger is 31-6 in this event.

If Tiger beats Jones, he’ll draw either Retief Goosen or Tim Clark in the second round. There’s a possible third-round match against 19-year old Rory McIlroy and the bracket also includes Mike Weir, Hunter Mahan, Camilo Villegas and Geoff Ogivly.

In other words, welcome back Tiger.

Among the things I’ll be watching early in the event are:

-- Whether Ernie Els can make a run here. He hasn’t made it past the second round of this event since 2001.

-- Phil Mickelson against Angel Cabrera in the first round. Bombs away.

-- The 5-12 matches. That’s the one that typically produces the upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament so why not in golf? The best 5-12 match is Dustin Johnson against Steve Stricker, though Adam Scott against Sean O’Hair isn’t bad.

-- Davis Love III against Henrik Stenson in the first round. If Love is going to vault up the world rankings and secure his place at the Masters, a winning streak this week would do it.
So, does Tiger win in his first tournament back?

That’s asking a lot, even of Tiger, and especially in match play where one hot round can do a guy in.

I’m going with Phil Mickelson.

The kids are all right

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is congratulated by Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland after the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic on February 1, 2009 in Dubai,United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)


Suddenly, Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim aren't the youngsters any more.

Ryo Ishikawa is 17, Danny Lee is 18 and Rory McIlroy is 19 years old.

Combined, they're one year younger than Jay Haas.

And their futures may be as bright as the yellow outfit Ishikawa wore at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles last week.

There are no promises, of course. Just ask Ty Tryon.

But the three of them have given the game a nice. Red Bull-like jolt, even if it will now be overshadowed by the Great One's return to competition.

McIlroy, with his bushy hair that hasn't been cut in months, looks like the real thing. When he won the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year, it only reinforced the notion that he's Ireland's next great player. He has a golf swing built to last and, it seems, uncommon nerve. Not yet 20, he's already an international star.

It's possible that McIlroy could go head to head with Tiger Woods if both players win their first two matches at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship this week, a pairing that would demand clearing time Friday afternoon to watch.

Watching Lee storm through the U.S. Amateur championship at Pinehurst last August, it was obvious he had a different game than other teenagers. He can kill it, of course, but he can putt, too. When he joked after his victory that he would beat Tiger Woods when they're paired together in the 2009 U.S. Open, you could tell he wasn't just being funny.

After winning the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand Sunday, Lee -- still an amateur -- was asked again about challenging Woods.

"All I want to do is break what he's done," Lee said.

At least he sets his goals high.

Lee will get his shot at Tiger at Bay Hill and again at the Masters. After Augusta, Lee is expected to turn pro and has full status on the European Tour after his victory.

As for Ishikawa, the 17-year old missed the cut by three strokes at Riviera in what amounted to his introduction to the American golf audience. He didn't play as well as he'd have liked but he seemed to embrace the moment, rather than allow it to overwhelm him.

The kids, it seems, are all right.

Tiger to return next week

Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf next week, playing in the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

It will be Woods' first event since winning the U.S. Open in a playoff last June and having knee reconstruction surgery eight days later. Woods has not played a competitive round since beating Rocco Mediate in a playoff for the U.S. Open title, his 14th major championship, on June 16.

Woods made the announcement on his website Thursday, ending weeks of speculation about when he would return to competition.

He has said during his rehabilitation that he will make his scheduling decisions on a week to week basis determined by how his left knee and leg are feeling.

Two brothers, two aces

The odds of a golfer making a hole-in-one in any given round -- according to people who are good enough with numbers to study these things -- are 5,000-to-one.

So what are the odds that two brothers, in this case Steve and Enrico Piraino of Charlotte, would both make a hole-in-one on the same day?

Whatever the odds, it happened on Feb. 11.

Steve Piraino made his ace on the par-3 seventh hole on Carmel Country Club’s North Course, hitting a 7-iron shot just past the flag on the 150-yard hole, and having it roll back into the cup.
Ernico made his ace the same day at The Peninsula Club, where he holed a 6-iron shot on the par-3 fourth hole.

And to think, they almost played golf together that day.

“My son, Philip, was at (Steve’s) house that day and he called me about 5:30 that afternoon,” Enrico said. “I told him I’d played golf and made a hole-in-one.

“My brother got home about 7:30 that night and he told my son that he’d made a hole-in-one. Philip said, ‘You’re kidding me. My dad did too.’”

Earlier that day, Enrico Piraino had called his brother inviting him to play at The Peninsula but Steve Piraino already had a game at Carmel.

For the record, it was Steve’s third career ace, his second in less than two years.

For Enrico, it was his first ace.

“Steve gets more chances because he plays more,” his brother said.

The brothers haven’t seen each other since they made their matching aces and neither is quite sure who gets stuck with the traditional bar tab.

“We haven’t decided that yet,” Enrico said.

The Curious Case of Michelle Wie

Watching Michelle Wie in the SBS Open in Hawaii was a blast, until Wie imploded over the final eight holes.

Here’s what Michelle Wie does for the LPGA Tour:

On Saturday night, I made a point of watching her try to win her first professional event, the now-defunct SBS Open in Hawaii.

Wie didn’t win, of course. She let a three-shot lead with eight holes remaining evaporate while the sneaky-good Angela Stanford showed the 19-year-old how tournaments are won.

Admittedly, had I been someplace other than a hotel room halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte on Valentine’s night the chances of me watching Wie would have been, well, wee.

The point is, however, that Wie is an attention magnet. Nothing against Angela Stanford but if she had been battling Cristie Kerr over the closing holes, the NBA All-Star challenge might have been more appealing.

But it was Michelle Wie playing for a trophy and that’s a very good thing for the LPGA Tour.

Like Benjamin Button, Wie is a curious case. To say she’s always been more famous than she’s been good is not entirely correct because for a time Wie was an outstanding player, regularly threatening in major championships.

Then she became a mess.

Now, before her 20th birthday, Wie seems to have run the circle of fame already. She was new, fresh and loved, she crashed hard and now she’s on the rebound.

For all of her immense fame, it’s worth remembering that Wie hasn’t won a golf tournament in six years. Put another way, she was 13 the last time she won.

Her nerves showed in the final round Saturday. (As others have suggested this week, maybe the LPGA should consider more Saturday finishes to get a little more bang).

Wie hit a couple of bad tee shots, couldn’t hole putts when she had to and had a front-row seat to watch Stanford win for the third time since last fall.

Afterward, Wie said the experience reminded her of what it felt like to be in the chase. It didn’t end the way she wanted but she was there again.

She’ll be there again and again. And with happier endings – soon.

A New Meaning To The Term Army Golf...

Sgt. Ryan Greve started hitting golf balls as a five-year old in Charlotte, visiting a driving range near Carolina Place Mall.
He played on the Providence High golf team for two years and, with his family living at Providence Country Club, golf has always been a part of Greve’s life.
Now stationed in Baghdad serving with the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Greve and golf have been reunited.
The base recently opened its own driving range, helped in large part by donations from veterans in Ridgefield, Conn., who sent some of the supplies needed to construct the practice facility.
“The fact that a driving net was created is awesome,” Greve said via e-mail.
The facility is named ‘Ridgefield Country Club Driving Range in Iraq’ and is open 24 hours a day.
It took eight soldiers approximately two weeks to construct the facility, which includes artificial turf tees and a collection of used golf clubs. They hope to eventually paint a backdrop to place behind the practice net.
Greve said he and other soldiers keep up with golf happenings via the internet. Now they have the opportunity to work on their games, at least a little bit.
“It is a huge morale booster and it keeps your swing in check,” Greve said. “For the golfers in the brigade, it is exactly what we needed.”

The Commish, Pinehurst And Other Matters

Now on the tee, the Commish.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is combining work and play this week by teeing it up in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Finchem is paired with Davis Love III, who he’s been fishing and skiing with but, until Wednesday, had never played golf with.

Finchem was convinced by AT&T executive Randall Stephenson to play in the celebrity-heavy pro-am this year.

“It makes you nervous to go out and play with these great players and being nervous is kind of fun,” said Finchem, who carries a six-handicap.

Finchem doesn’t have to worry about attracting the biggest galleries along the Monterey Peninsula. The Fred Couples-Justin Timberlake pairing will draw the most attention.

-- How would you like to win unlimited golf at Pinehurst for a year? It’s being offered as part of a promotion this spring at the resort. From March 8 through May 30, Pinehurst is offering an unlimited golf package which allows players access to all eight courses with unlimited play. The cost starts at $515 per night and includes the golf, a room, full use of the practice facilities, the resort’s exceptional breakfast buffet and dinner. As for the contest, registration is open at www.Pinehurst.com/sweepstakes and the winner will receive unlimited golf for two plus other exclusive benefits at the resort from June 1, 2009 through May 30, 2010.

-- It will be interesting to see how Phil Mickelson plays this weekend, given his flat start. I’m not buying into suggestions that Lefty has begun a slow fade into mediocrity. I still think he has another major win or two in him but it has been surprising to see him struggle as he has.

-- It should be a nice evening in Pinehurst Friday when the Carolinas Golf Association celebrates its centennial with a dinner featuring its 2008 players of the year, a number of former champions and guest speaker David Fay, the executive director of the United States Golf Association.

LPGA's New Stars Ready To Shine

The LPGA season opens Thursday at the SBS Open in Hawaii, one of those suitable-for-framing spots, where the tour will begin life after Annika Sorenstam.

While Lorena Ochoa is still the tour’s top player with Paula Creamer, Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis among her challengers, the 2009 season brings with it a rookie class capable of transforming the power structure.

Excluding Ji-Yan Shin, who is technically a rookie but won three times on tour last year, here are three new faces – okay two new faces and one very familiar one – we’ll likely see regularly:

-- Vicky Hurst.

She dominated the Duramed Futures Tour last year, winning four times.

She was almost literally born on a golf course because her mother went into labor with Vicky while playing golf. Like Morgan Pressel and Alexis Thompson, Hurst is another sparkling talent from Florida.

She’s easy to recognize, too, wearing a Hogan-style cap when she plays to honor the late Payne Stewart.

-- Stacy Lewis.

She was already one of women’s golf’s most inspirational stories even before she won the LPGA qualifying tournament last fall.

Lewis wore a back brace for more than seven years to correct curvature of her spine caused by scoliosis. When it was determined the brace hadn’t worked, Lewis underwent surgery to correct the problem when she was 18.

Last year, she won the NCAA individual championship and was the top-ranked women’s amateur in the country before earning her spot on the LPGA tour.

-- Michelle Wie.

Sound familiar?

She’s finally a full-time member of the LPGA tour and says she intends to play golf for six months while attending Stanford the other six months.

Wie has the potential to be a huge star if she can win consistently on the LPGA tour. She has suffered from poor direction and bad decisions but she says she’s healthy and happy these days and her game is coming back.

That’s a good thing for Wie and for the LPGA tour.

Will Tiger Return Before Phil Does?

With the news that Tiger Woods now has a son – Charlie Axel Woods was born Sunday -- two questions beg to be answered:
1. When will Tiger return to the PGA Tour?
2. When will Phil Mickelson return to the tour?
In Tiger's case, there's no clear answer when he'll bring his new knee and new baby pictures on tour. The fact that his son was born over the weekend has heightened the speculation that perhaps Tiger will show up at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in three weeks.
Tiger loves match play but it's on a new course which makes you wonder if he'd rather be someplace more familiar. There's also the possibility of consecutive 36-hole days on the weekend were he to reach the quarterfinals, a test he may prefer to avoid right now.
If not the Match Play, I’m guessing we’ll see him at the WCG event at Doral in early March.
By that time, perhaps Mickelson will have arrived.
It has been a dreary start to the year for Lefty, who missed the cut at the FBR Open then scraped his way to a tie for 42nd at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Not exactly the start he or anyone else envisioned.
The culprits are familiar -- Mickelson hasn't driven the ball straight enough nor putted it well enough to make himself a factor. That's a bad combination because it's easier to fix one major component than two at a time.
And, by the way, a white belt with black pants and a black shirt, hmmm....
Mickelson has said more than once he thought he was ready for the year, despite taking two months off from golf and only practicing for a week before resuming tournament play. It appears that grueling regimen didn’t effectively knock off all the rust.
The thing about Mickelson is he can turn it around in an instant. After getting the weekend off in Phoenix, it wasn't a stretch to think Mickelson might win at Torrey Pines.
Instead, he sputtered again after a good start on the tough South Course. Now the question is whether he'll right himself along the Monterey Peninsula at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this week. Had it been just one bad week, you could brush it off easier. After two straight flame-outs, maybe it's not such a quick fix after all.
Mickelson has won the Pebble Beach event three times in his career. Maybe a little time around Bill Murray, Andy Garcia and 17-Mile Drive will fix what’s ailing Mickelson’s game.
Maybe.

Waiting On Tiger

In his newsletter this week, Tiger Woods confirmed what we’d been hoping to hear – he’s practicing “full bore” now and his return to the PGA Tour is getting very close.

Naturally, Woods wouldn’t say just when he’ll come back for a couple of reasons.

His wife, Elin, is due to give birth to their second child this month, which will keep him around the house for a while. And, Woods typically doesn’t let on where he plans to play until shortly before his jet lands.

What matters, from a golf perspective anyway, is that Woods is almost ready. He’s working to regain his golf stamina, he said, which for him means being able to hit more balls in a day than most of us hit in a year.

For a while, Woods said, he was able to distance himself from golf because he knew he wasn’t capable of playing. But as his rehabilitation has progressed, the desire to play has returned.

If things go well, Woods said he would like to play a full schedule this year. Whether that includes the Wachovia Championship where he won in 2007 is uncertain. For a while, though, Woods will take it week by week as he gets back into the routine of tournament golf.

The most likely scenario has Tiger making his 2009 debut at the World Golf Championship event at Doral in early March. He could show up at the WGC match play event in Arizona later this month but it's being played on a course he's never seen and there's the possibility of playing 36 holes in a day more than once.

If Tiger plays Doral, takes a break then plays Arnie's tournament at Bay Hill, that's two events before the Masters.

As announcer Gary McCord said earlier this week, now is the time for the other players to take advantage of Woods’ absence but no one seems able to do it.

The storm is on the horizon, McCord said.

It can’t get here soon enough.

Something Old, Something New

On Sunday, halfway across the world, 19-year old Rory McIlroy delivered a championship in Dubai that reinforced the notion he may be golf’s next international star.
In another desert, surrounded by a smaller than normal but still noisy Phoenix crowd, 48-year old Kenny Perry won his fourth tournament since May and reminded us that he’s not going anywhere, at least not for a while.
So there was something new and something old. Now if we can just find something borrowed and something blue…
Neither McIlroy nor Perry finished in grand style. McIlroy bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to throw his victory in doubt before making a nerve-testing up-and-down from a bunker to win in Dubai.
Perry, meanwhile, seemed to go an hour between pars but somehow still beat the haircut-challenged Charley Hoffman for his 13th career win.
Though separated by 29 years, McIlroy and Perry are separated by only seven spots on the official World Golf Rankings. Perry jumped back into the top 10 at No. 9 while McIlroy is now the 16th-ranked player in the world.
McIlroy looks like the next great player to emerge from Great Britain. He’s good enough that his fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington has said he’d be willing to pay to watch McIlroy play.
We’re going to get a look at him soon when he plays a handful of PGA Tour events leading to the Masters and beyond. It’s possible McIlroy will play the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head and Wachovia Championship officials would like to have him at Quail Hollow.
Meanwhile, anyone who figured Perry would gracefully fade away into the Kentucky sunset after his inspiring Ryder Cup appearance last fall is mistaken. His 13th career victory has him looking for more. “I set a goal out there that’s probably unrealistic and unreachable, yet here I am,” Perry told reporters after his victory. “I’m only seven away now, not eight. So you never know.”
While McIlroy’s story is just beginning, Perry’s obviously isn’t ready to end.

Boo, Furyk, Scott Commit To Wachovia

Boo Weekley, one of the stars of the United States' Ryder Cup victory last fall and among the most popular players on the PGA Tour, is among the golfers who have made early commitments to play in the Wachovia Championship April 28-May 3 at the Quail Hollow Club.
Jim Furyk, the 2006 champion, and Adam Scott have also made official commitments to play in the event, tournament officials announced.
Other top players who have made official commitments are Davis Love III, J.B. Holmes, K.J. Choi and Lucas Glover.
Players have until 5 p.m. on the Friday preceding tournament week to officially enter.
Though the event is nearly three months away, the Wachovia Championship is expected to attract many of the PGA Tour's top players. Anthony Kim is the defending champion. The event has been a sellout in each of its first six years and is expected to be sold out again this year. For ticket information, visit www.wachoviachampionship.com.

A Beautiful Thing -- Once In A While

The par-3 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale, site of the FBR Open this week, is 162 yards of beer-fueled, bet-making, boo-bringing fun.
It’s everything golf isn’t supposed to be – loud and rowdy with a touch of rock and roll.
It’s as subtle as Anthony Kim’s belt buckles.
And it’s what the PGA Tour could use more of.
Not a lot more, but a little more.
The 16th hole is truly stadium golf, a par-3 completely encircled by bleachers and hospitality tents, holding upwards of 20,000 fans, some of whom are actually there for the golf.
Lousy shots are booed, good shots cheered and memorable shots – like Tiger Woods’ ace there in 1996 – become a part of history.
You wouldn’t want it every week. It’s not the vibe they’re going for at Quail Hollow’s 17th during the Wachovia Championship or the 12th at Augusta National.
But in a sport that too often takes itself far too seriously (tour players who don’t smile after making a birdie or a putt longer than 15 feet should be forced to buy their own lunch), the 16th hole in Phoenix is like a frat party.
You don’t want to go to one every night but once in a while, they’re a blast.

Aye, Aye, Captain Montgomerie

Colin Montgomerie has been named captain of the European Ryder Cup team for 2010.

The 2010 Ryder Cup is still 20 months away but it officially became more entertaining today when rumors were confirmed with the announcement that Colin Montgomerie will captain the European team in the matches at Celtic Manor in Wales.

Bravo.

No one does golf drama better than Monty.

Tiger has his fist pump. Phil has his smile. Monty has his lower lip.

You’ve seen it, pushed up like a 4-year-old’s who’s just had his candy taken away.

That’s Monty, who does for golf chatter what Lindsay Lohan does for ‘Entertainment Tonight.’

I happily admit I’m a Monty fan.

In fact, I still have my ‘Be Nice To Monty’ button on display in the office.

He’s been one of the best players of his generation despite the obvious knock on him that he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour nor captured a major championship.

True, those are glaring voids. Monty owes Mickelson a thank you for throwing away the 2006 U.S. Open or we’d still be fixated on how Monty blew it himself on the 72nd hole.

But he’s won the European Tour’s Order of Merit eight times and been absolute money in the Ryder Cup.

Monty has passion and that’s what the Ryder Cup is about. He knows he’s a character but he also knows how and why the Ryder Cup matters, especially to the Europeans.

There are already questions about how the European players will react to Monty, particularly in light of a controversial rules question he was involved with a couple of years ago.

They’ll be fine with their new captain. He’s a different bird but that’s OK.

Captain Montgomerie – it has a nice ring to it.

We've all been there with Stricker

We’ve all been where Steve Stricker was Sunday afternoon.

Maybe not that exact spot – the 10th tee at the Palmer Course at PGA West trying to win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on a wind-blown Sunday – but in that place where everything comes apart.

In case you weren’t watching, or turned your head when it happened, Stricker had lost a three-shot lead over Pat Perez when he triple-bogeyed the par-4 seventh hole.
Then it got worse.

With the wind ripping on the watery 10th, Stricker stepped away from his tee shot a couple of times. When he finally hit his tee ball, what was intended to be a draw into the breeze was instead a nervous cut that got caught in the jet stream and sailed out of bounds to the right.
That was the one, Stricker said later, that hurt the most.

Then, if you’ve ever played golf, you know what happens next. The wind is howling left to right, the left side of the 10th hole looks like Lake Michigan and, the dreaded smother hook arrives.
If there’s such a thing as a good eight, Stricker eventually made one at the 10th hole. By the time he finished the hole, he was four strokes behind Perez, the eventual champion.

“I just got out of sorts a little bit on those couple of shots,” the ever-gracious Stricker told reporters afterward.

In a tournament that had video-games scores through the first four rounds, Stricker’s collapse was a jarring reminder that golf’s little demons can strike anywhere, any time.
If you’ve played much golf, you already know that.

Don't count on Tiger hitting the stump

Tiger Woods introduced the U.S. Naval Glee Club at President Barack Obama's inauguration celebration.

Since we've known him, Tiger Woods kept politics out of his public life.

To some, Woods has copped out, opting for safe rather than risking his image. He has been compared to Michael Jordan, who famously explained why he keeps his politics private by saying, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”

But there was Woods during the Inauguration weekend, taking his turn on a celebrity-filled stage, to say a few words on behalf of the United States military and introduce the U.S. Naval Glee Club.

It was a surprise to many that Woods participated in the inauguration, if only because he has so carefully kept his political profile lowered.

Does it mean Woods is becoming more politically active? Probably not.

It means he appreciated the opportunity to be part of something special and his respect for the military runs deep.

Fujikawa, 18, may hone game on Tarheel Tour

Tadd Fujikawa, an 18-year-old phenom in the golf world, might use Charlotte's Tarheel Tour to get used to the grind of professional golf and hone his game.

Could Tadd Fujikawa's future be on the Tarheel Tour?

It sounds that way.

During his latest star turn at the Sony Hawaiian Open last week, the 18-year-old sensation said he is considering joining the Charlotte-based mini-tour this summer to get comfortable playing professional golf on a weekly basis.

Fujikawa said his teacher, Todd Anderson at Sea Island, suggested he find a place to play regularly so he can get acclimated to the grind of professional golf. The Tarheel Tour, Fujikawa said, is his possible destination after he graduates high school in May.

"Right now, because I've had exemptions and stuff, I played two tournaments and have a month break, play two tournaments, have a month break, play one tournament, two weeks break, and another tournament. It's hard to get any momentum going," Fujikawa told reporters in Hawaii.

"I feel like I play well one week, and then right when I start getting my game, I feel some confidence coming along and then I'm on a break. So it just kills it.

"It's tough to play like that. (Anderson) wants me to play every week and get into contention as much as I can. And whether it's a mini-or a PGA TOUR event, he said it doesn't matter. He said he just wants me to play and get some experience and go out there and win."

Though he's flashed onto the national scene twice in the Sony and once when he qualified for the U.S. Open, Fujikawa's two-year professional career has been underwhelming. He won the Mid-Pacific Open in Hawaii last year but, otherwise, he hasn't distinguished himself.

There are questions about whether at 5-feet, 1-inch tall he has the physical ability to play the PGA Tour, though his third-round 62 in the Sony answered many questions.

Fujikawa has star power but it takes more than that. It takes following up a 62 with something better than the 73 he closed with on Sunday that left him tied for 32nd at Waialae. If he's really good enough, he'll learn from last weekend and build on it.

He'll learn if he has the game and the temperament to play golf for a living week after week. And he may find out here on the Tarheel Tour.

Charlotte's Patty Moore caps '08 with award

It came as no surprise recently when Charlotte's Patty Moore was again named the women's player of the year by the Carolinas Golf Association.

It will be news when Moore doesn’t win the award again.

In 2008, Moore won the Carolinas women's senior championship, the Carolinas women's match play and the North Carolina women's senior championship -- which explains why the 58-year old Carmel Country Club member was also the women's senior player of the year.

Moore also finished second in the Carolinas women's amateur championship, reached the round of 32 in the U.S. senior women's amateur and qualified for the U.S. women's mid-amateur championship.

It was the second straight year Moore has won the honor and the third time overall.

The men's player of the year was 57-year old Paul Simson of Raleigh, who shows no signs of slowing down.

Simson was the Carolinas men's player of the year in 1998 and 2005, also.

His biggest victory was the British seniors open championship in England to go with three other wins in the U.S.

To give you a sense of what it means to be the men's player of the year in the Carolinas, consider that since 1999 the list of honorees includes Jonathan Byrd, D.J. Trahan, Bill Haas, Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson, each of whom is now playing the PGA Tour.

Duke wise to pluck talented 49ers coach

The announcement Friday that Jamie Green has resigned as men's golf coach at Charlotte to become the new men's golf coach at Duke shouldn’t have come as a great surprise.

Green has been too successful with the Charlotte program not to have drawn the attention of other programs. College golf coaches aren't as famous or as well paid as football and basketball coaches, but the system works the same way. If you're good enough, other programs will want to hire you.

And Duke made a wise choice in hiring Green, who coached the 49ers to consecutive top-10 finishes in the NCAA tournament in 2007 and 2008.

In five years, Green took a Charlotte program that had never made an impact on the national stage and he turned it into a contender. Some of the talent he inherited. Some he recruited. All of it he nurtured.

It's a stinging loss for the Charlotte program. Athletics director Judy Rose had worked to secure Green's future at the school with a contract extension and program enhancements. Green, in a statement, said the decision to leave Charlotte was the toughest of his coaching career.

But when Duke - with its national stature, its Rees Jones-redesigned golf course and its extensive resources - calls, you listen. And, in Green's case, you move.

There may be hurt feelings for a while but, when the emotion subsides, there should be an appreciation at Charlotte for what Green accomplished with the program.

And there should be a goal of finding the right person to sustain the program Green transformed.

Sergio wins U.S. Open, and other predictions

Is this finally the year Sergio Garcia gets a grip on a U.S. Open trophy, at Bethpage in New York?

Before the first official shot of the 2009 PGA Tour season is struck and before John Daly can do anything else, allow me to make five predictions about things that will happen on tour this year.

Like me standing on a tee with trees left and water right, this can’t have a good outcome. But since it’s the first swing, maybe a mulligan will be in order.

1. Sergio Garcia wins the U.S. Open at Bethpage.

He’s going to win a major, probably multiple majors, and I think he gets the first one this year. If he wants to answer any remaining questions about how good he is and if he’s tough enough, a victory at Bethpage would do it.

Remember, that’s where he went through his re-gripping phase and the gentle New Yorkers were so kind to count off each re-setting of his hands. It’s up to him in New York, New York.

2. Tiger Woods comes back as good as ever.

Notice I didn’t say better than ever. That’s a big ask.

When he disappeared after the U.S. Open last June, Woods had won 10 of his last 13 worldwide starts, had two seconds and a wimpy fifth-place finish.

He says he’s better physically than he’s been in 10 years and I don’t think he forgot how to play since June. Welcome back.

3. Quail Hollow lands a major championship.

It’s just a hunch but it’s never been a secret that the club would like to host a major. The Wachovia Championship contract expires after 2014 and it’s not outrageous to think a PGA Championship could come to Quail Hollow sometime after that.

4. Tim Clark finally wins in the U.S.

For several years, the former Wolfpack golfer has been a steady presence on the global golf scene, often in major championships. To this point, however, he hasn’t won a PGA Tour event. This is the year that changes for Clark.

5. Greg Norman makes the cut at the Masters.

Just having the Shark back at Augusta will be great fun but he showed in the British Open last summer that he can still summon some magic from his game. It’s too much to ask for him to contend at the Masters but having there for the weekend would be great.

De Jonge is Nationwide Tour POY

Charlotte resident Brendon de Jonge capped a big year by being named Nationwide Tour player of the year in a vote of his fellow tour members.

De Jonge, a native of Zimbabwe who has lived in Charlotte for more than three years, had one victory, one second-place finish and three thirds in a season in which he finished second on the money list.

A graduate of Virginia Tech, de Jonge will return to the PGA Tour in 2009. He played the tour in 2007.

In other awards announced by the PGA Tour:

-- Padraig Harrington has been selected player of the year after winning two major championships. Harrington is the first European player to win the award;

-- Bernhard Langer is the Champions Tour player of the year and rookie of the year after winning three events;

-- Andres Romero captured the PGA Tour rookie of the year award;

-- And, Dudley Hart was named comeback player of the year after posting six top-10 finishes while playing on a major medical extension in 2008.

Wie, LPGA tour need each other -- badly

At 19, Michelle Wie has been through the full circle of stardom, and it's only now that she should be starting her LPGA career.

In reading through various stories from Daytona Beach, Fla., where Michelle Wie earned full status on the LPGA Tour Sunday, I was struck by a comment made by her instructor, David Leadbetter.

He said Michelle Wie needs the LPGA and the LPGA needs her.

Spot on.

It's funny how Wie seems to have been around forever and she's only 19. In fact, she's only now getting ready to start her career.

She will arrive on the 2009 LPGA tour having already lived the full circle of stardom. As a 14-year-old, Wie nearly won an LPGA major and threatened several more times before her career came unhinged two years ago.

A wrist injury started the downward spiral and it got ugly. Her game went away and so did a measure of her charm. She pulled out of a PGA Tour event with heat-related problems and walked off the course at the Ginn Tribute near Charleston, S.C., last year to avoid shooting a score so high it would have made her ineligible to play the tour the rest of the season.

Her game, which looked so great when she had the world watching her attempt to qualify for the men's U.S. Open, crumbled, taking her confidence with it.

Gradually, though, she has built back her game and when she hits the tour full time next year, the timing couldn't be better.

The LPGA Tour, which plays approximately one-third of its events outside the U.S. is feeling the effects of the economy coupled with the loss of Annika Sorenstam. Sure, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Lorena Ochoa are stars but they haven't shown the ability to pull the casual fan to them.

Michelle Wie can do that.

She has enormous star power. While the guidance she has received to this point is questionable -- she pushed the playing against the men thing way too far -- this is a fresh start for her.

When Wie tees it up in February at the SBS Open in Hawaii, it will be a new day for her and the tour.

Tiger Woods is POY -- in 6 starts

Padraig Harrington is a very nice man. If niceness were handicapped, he'd be about a plus-6.

He also won two major championships this year, which secured his eventual spot in the Hall of Fame and reconfirmed his place among the handful of best players in the world even if he did fizzle at the Ryder Cup.

The point of this is to exorcise a wee bit of guilt I feel about not voting for Harrington as the PGA Tour's player of the year.

But Tiger Woods wins again.

I know he played just six PGA Tour events but that was enough.

Tiger won four times, finished second once and fifth in the other event.

Remember the bomb he made on the 72nd hole to win Bay Hill?

And how about the way he came back to beat J.B. Holmes in the Match Play Championship?

Those are career memories for most guys but for Tiger they amounted to window dressing this year when compared to his victory in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Years from now, decades from now, in fact, people will talk about how Woods won the Open while essentially playing on one leg. He did it on guts and will and with whatever that special thing is he possesses that makes him different from everyone else.

He called it his most meaningful major championship victory and Tiger isn't one to brag.
Harrington may win player of the year and it will be justified.

Vijay Singh locked down the FedEx Cup playoffs to end a good year and Camilo Villegas finally broke through. They had special seasons but, as they've heard before, they weren't Tiger.

There's only one Tiger.

When you can beat the best in the world in the U.S. Open on one leg, you've answered all the questions.

PGA Tour tries, again, for dramatic finish

Now that the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs have been reconfigured again, we know something for certain -- but that's been the problem all along.

Unlike the first two seasons of the FedEx Cup playoffs where the winner had been determined before the Tour Championship was played, the 2009 version of the playoffs guarantees no player, not even Tiger Woods, will be able to have locked up the big playoff check before the end of the Tour Championship, which will be played Sept. 24-27 in Atlanta.

Sounds like an improvement.

The FedEx Cup has fizzled in its first two years because Tiger and Vijay Singh have bleached the drama out of the four-event playoff by locking down the overall championship before it could build to a big finish. They've done it by playing spectacular golf but, in the process, they undercut the idea of a dramatic finish at East Lake before the PGA Tour fades beneath football's glaring light.

Under the new twist, it won't be possible to win the $10-million bonus before getting to East Lake. At least that's the idea.

The new format announced by the PGA Tour on Tuesday includes a handful of changes. Among the most significant:

-- The season-long points race won't end until after the third playoff event. Previously, it ended prior to the playoffs with players being seeded for the final four events. Next year, season points will accumulate through The Barclays, the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship. After the BMW, only the top 30 will advance to the Tour Championship but only after the points have been reset.

-- Only the top 125 in points will advance to the playoffs, a reduction from the 144 who advanced the first two years. The top 100 will qualify for the second event and the top 70 will reach the BMW.

The FedEx Cup hasn't suffered because of bad golf. In fact, it has had some great shows, including the Singh-Sergio Garcia playoff this year and Camilo Villegas' double-shot finish this year.

The playoffs won't ever attract March Madness-like attention and they haven't come close to doing for golf what the Chase has done for NASCAR. But they keep working to make the system better. They seem to be on the right track.

Gaston CC plays persimmon for a day

Have you ever wondered how you'd play if you if had to go back to the equipment that was considered state of the art back in the 1960s and '70s?

What if you had to trade in your 460cc driver for a persimmon-headed model with a head that looked about as big as a tennis ball?

The members at Gaston Country Club got a taste of it Saturday.

As part of the club's 50th anniversary celebration, members played with persimmon drivers, old-school irons and balata golf balls.

They played golf with the stuff that made Jack and Arnie famous.

And it made them appreciate the advances in golf club technology.

"Absolutely," said Walter Gray.

The long drive contest was won by a 257-yard poke by a young player who can usually hit a 3-wood that far.

That's how things have changed, in case you've forgotten.

Just finding the equipment was a challenge. An e-mail campaign rustled up enough sets of vintage irons that every foursome had a set.

Gray played with a set of 1961 Wilson Staff Dynapower Fluid Feel irons with the original grips and shafts. They're available on e-bay for $20 if you're interested.

They bought 30 dozen Titleist balls with balata covers they found on the internet and no one was in a hurry to start playing those again any time soon.

"Those balls would fall out of the sky like a shot duck," Gray said.

It was, Gray said, fun for a day.

On Sunday, though, everyone went back to their modern equipment.

Erik Compton: A golf story with heart

The most emotionally compelling story in golf this year doesn't end with someone holding a trophy.

It ended, at least for the moment, last Saturday when 28-year-old Erik Compton (right, in a file photo) missed advancing to the finals of PGA Tour qualifying school by one shot.

It was probably the three-putt par from 20 feet on the 16th hole that did Compton in during the final round of the second-stage qualifier where he finished tied for 22nd, knowing only the top 20 finishers (and ties) would advance.

Still, the achievement far outweighs the disappointment.

That's because on May 20, Compton underwent a 14-hour heart transplant that saved his life.

It was his second transplant, his first coming when he was 12 years old, and six months later Compton was chasing a spot on the PGA Tour. His is a remarkable and inspiring story. A former All-American at Georgia, Compton was bitterly disappointed when he talked to reporters after his near miss finish in Florida last Saturday.

His life could have changed had he reached the finals of tour school. He admitted to thinking about health insurance and family matters and other things while he was playing and how could he not? The pressure, he said, was too much.

But Compton is alive and playing golf, looking forward to his wife giving birth to their first child in February.

The disappointment will fade. His life, thankfully, will go on.

Wachovia Championship: An awkward leftover

It will be strange next spring to have the Wachovia Championship played at Quail Hollow when Wachovia, at least as Charlotte and the rest of the country has known it, no longer exists.

The word awkward comes to mind.

There's still so much smoke swirling around the Wachovia/Wells Fargo merger that it will take time for everything to be sorted out. Certainly, there are more important matters to be considered than the name of a golf tournament.

However, the announcement last week that the Wachovia name will remain raises questions.

Is it as simple as not having enough time to redo the branding of the event that led to the decision to keep the name as it has been through the first six years of the tournament?

Or does it suggest that perhaps Wells Fargo isn't sold on taking over the title sponsor role of the tournament?

I don't know.

It would seem an ideal way to become a part of the community where there are plenty of bruised feelings.

My guess is if Wells Fargo were to choose not to continue in Wachovia's role, the tournament could find another sponsor. There's another big bank in Charlotte that might be interested if it were asked. Again, I don't know but it would seem a logical question if sponsorship became an issue.

I do know a handful of naming options were considered before the decision was made to stick with the Wachovia Championship. And the decision to keep the name of an essentially defunct brand hasn't been popular with many associated with the event.

The tournament itself should be fine. The organization that runs it -- Champions For Education -- is committed to keeping it among the elite events on the PGA Tour. The top players will be here again next spring and in future years. The quality won't suffer.

Golf tournaments change names all the time. It's the nature of sports marketing these days.

This one seemed immune to that happening. Ultimately, though, it wasn't.

The Wachovia Championship name will live for one more year.

Beyond that, who knows?

Love's place in golf Hall probably secured

Davis Love III probably secured his place in the World Golf Hall of Fame Sunday when he won his 20th career PGA Tour event.

He’ll get my vote next year.

Love (right, with Mickey) was likely to get in anyway but winning a 20th time – at age 44 after a two-year winless stretch – reinforced the quality of his career and provided another milestone for anyone who wants to quibble about numbers.

When Love was in Kannapolis recently, he talked about his desire to end this year on a high in hopes it would springboard him into 2009. That’s what he’s done.

Now he gets to play the Mercedes Championship at Kapalua, where he’s typically played well, and he has a realistic chance of playing his way onto the Presidents Cup team next year.

Tiger pitches Asheville course he's designing

Tiger Woods, who has already spent a significant amount of time at High Carolina near Asheville, put the sales pitch on approximately 1,000 people who stopped by to see him Saturday at The Cliffs community where he is designing his first American golf course.

Woods, who said he still isn’t sure when he’ll return to competitive golf after knee surgery in June, unveiled the layout of the new course, which is scheduled to begin construction next year.

The course will play 7,500 yards from the back tees but Woods has designed six sets of tees to accommodate players of different skill levels. He has also made an effort to design the greens so that players will have the option of running shots into the putting surfaces rather than having forced carries.

Walking will be encouraged at High Carolina, where Woods has reportedly hiked the property extensively, even after his surgery. The course is expected to open in the fall of 2010.

'Two Gloves' closes strong

It was nice to see Tommy ‘Two Gloves’ Gainey finish second Sunday at Disney World after a disappointing season.

Gainey didn’t win enough money to keep his tour card for next year but he exempted himself into the final stage of qualifying school where he may be able to play his way back onto the big tour. If not, he’ll be able to play the Nationwide Tour.

On Daly, Augusta, Quail Hollow ...

Catching up on a few things in the golf world:

- John Daly said this week that the fact he spent 24 hours in a Winston-Salem jail last week sobering up "wasn't that big of a deal."

Daly was found outside a Winston-Salem Hooters restaurant at 2 a.m., after the restaurant had closed. Daly admitted in a wire-service story that he was drunk, but he had planned to go back to his bus to sleep. He said when he was found, he was asleep with his eyes open and slow to wake up. That led to a 911 call.

With no place to go, Daly was taken to the Forsyth County facility where he had a day to sober up.

What a waste.

- Augusta National announced this week a few minor changes to the golf course. Nothing dramatic was adjusted with most of the work being done to some tees and rebuilding a few greens to put heating and cooling systems underneath.

The first tee was adjusted, adding a few yards to the front and taking a few yards off the back to alleviate some spectator congestion in the area. The hole will now measure 10 yards shorter at 445 yards.

Additional yardage was also added to the front of the seventh and 15th tees, which leads to the thought that perhaps the course will play a bit shorter and, hopefully, easier in April.

-- Still no verdict on the name of the Wachovia Championship for next year. There's a chance it will keep the Wachovia Championship name for 2009, but it seems more likely to become the Wells Fargo Championship. It would be nice if Quail Hollow were in the name, but that seems unlikely.

- It will be worth watching how many PGA Tour players point their schedule toward the European Tour to take advantage of the super big bucks available in the Road to Dubai sweepstakes that's been created. Phil Mickelson says he intends to become a member of the European Tour in the future but won't this year. The tour requires a player to tee it up 12 times but the four majors and three World Golf Championship events get you more than halfway there.

The $10-million prize that will be available in Dubai has turned the heads of several top players.

- I knew the so-called Fall Finish wouldn't get much attention, but it's been almost invisible. It ends this week, but to most people it never really started.

Honestly, how much golf have you watched since the Ryder Cup?